Men’s Soccer Travels To The Volunteer State For Battle With Memphis

MACON – For the first time in 2025, the Mercer Bears are hitting the road. The first road trip begins with a Thursday night matchup against familiar foe Memphis.

MATCH INFO.
Date | Time: Thursday, August 28 | 6 p.m.
Teams: Mercer at Memphis
Location: Memphis, Tenn. | Billy J. Murphy Soccer/Track & Field Complex
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: Stats
Twitter Updates: @Mercer_MSoccer
Instagram: @mercermsoccer

Undefeated at Home

After the first homestand of the season, the Bears remain undefeated at home. Mercer's season began last Friday morning, and the Bears dominated Oglethorpe en route to a 4-0 victory.

This past Sunday, Mercer welcomed Evansville to Betts Stadium. The Bears scored in the first 10 minutes of the match but conceded a goal shortly after. Henry Hampshaw's clutch second-half performance saved the 1-1 draw.

Thursday night's match will be the first time the Bears play away from Betts this calendar year. In 2024, Mercer finished with a 2-2-6 record on the road.

Casillas Found his Groove

Junior Casillas has been red-hot to begin the season with his new squad. The graduate senior has four goal contributions (one goal and three assists) already in the orange and black.

The Lexington, Nebraska, native has found success at every program he's been at. In two seasons at Omaha, Casillas had seven goals and four assists in 36 appearances.

As a junior, the midfielder helped lead Omaha to an NCAA Tournament appearance and earned 2023 All-Summit Second Team and 2023 Summit League All-Newcomer Team honors in his first season as a Maverick.

Before Omaha, Casillas dominated at Iowa Western. As a freshman, Casillas scored 10 goals and added four assists while coming off the bench. In his sophomore season, he earned more of a starting role and added six more goals and three more assists to his resume.

Eye of the Tiger

Since 2013, Mercer has a 2-1 record against Memphis. The last two matches have gone in the Bears' favor, including Mercer's 2-0 win over the Tigers at Betts Stadium last season.

Memphis is 0-1-1 to start 2025. The Tigers opened their season on the road with in-state rival Lipscomb which resulted in a 1-1 draw.

Fletcher Hedge scored the first goal of the season, capitalizing off some chaos caused by a free kick in the 47th minute. Lipscomb scored the equalizer 30 minutes later to split the result.

Memphis then traveled to Belmont and lost 2-0 after conceding an early penalty and then scoring an own goal within the first 35 minutes of the match. The Tigers outshot Belmont 14-7 and had 11 corners but could not capitalize on any scoring opportunities.

Similarly to Mercer, the Tigers welcomed 20 newcomers to the squad in 2025. Memphis has three key returners from their 2024 roster.

Goalkeeper Filip Sabatti is entering his second season as a Tiger. His first year at Memphis, Sabatti was named the 2024 American Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the Year and earned All-AAC First Team honors. The Porec, Croatia, native also received 2025 Preseason American All-Conference team honors while being named the 2025 Preseason American Goalkeeper of the Year.

Sophomore defender Ryan Ruguaru also received preseason All-Conference honors after his seven starts (14 appearances) earned him a spot on the American All-Freshman team in 2024. Ruguaru was a member of Memphis' backline that held then No. 9 Charlotte scoreless to help the Tigers secure the upset win.

Luciano Galizzi, one of three unanimous American Preseason All-Conference selections, returns for his sixth season of collegiate soccer. Galizzi started in every match for Memphis last season and finished with four goals and one assist.

Men’s Soccer Travels To The Volunteer State For Battle With Memphis

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Players Mentioned

Junior Casillas

Henry Hampshaw

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